Lily's Rash
by loverofbooks2
Summary: After a beauty spell goes wrong, Lily gets an ugly and terrible rash. While everyone makes fun of the infallible Lily Evans for having a blemish, one boy still sees her beauty. His name might be James Potter! One-shot with fluff!


At three o'clock in the morning, the giggles of five sixth year girls could be heard from outside their dorms, much to the annoyance of everyone else in Gryffindor Tower.

As per tradition, said fifth year girls were having their monthly slumber party, held the first Thursday night of every month.

The attendees were Marlene McKinnon, Alice Prewett, Hestia Jones, Emmeline Vance, and Lily Evans. The latter was the current focus, a fact that was making Lily uncomfortable and slightly irritated.

"Oh, come on, Lily!" Alice whined. "This could really be good for your whole school career. Think about the possibilities!"

The other four girls were circled around Lily, wands raised, while Lily herself was perched on a small pouf with a look of fear and pleading on her face.

Unfortunately, the other girls echoed Alice's sentiments, and Marlene added, "And just imagine what James Potter will do when he sees your glowing moonshine skin at breakfast tomorrow." She looked off into the distance as if seeing the future and placed her hands on the edges of her face to do spirit fingers, as if the movements represented the glow of Lily's skin.

At this, Lily's mouth popped open indignantly, and she prepared to protest Potter's so called love for her. Before she could do so, the other four girls raised their hands and Alice quoted sourly, "We know, we know. 'James Potter does not love you'."

Put out that they could read her so well, Lily sat back with a huff and folded her arms. "I will not resort to some superficial beauty spell to help me get rid of something that will go away on it's own," she declared.

The other girls looked doubtful and Emmeline sat down carefully next to her dorm-mate. "Lily, honey, you have a serious problem," she said delicately. "That pimple is the size of Hogwarts."

And with those words, Lily's "problem" was out in the open. They seemed to have been avoiding speaking the words pimple, zit, or giant pink bubble of grossness as if saying them would bring a blemish upon themselves.

Lily turned slowly to face to gilt-edged mirror that perched above a beautiful oak vanity table which itself held numerous beauty products and pamphlets all promising to make a witch look her best.

Her eyes drifted up towards her forehead, where her misfortune resided. Right smack-dab in the center of her eyebrows was the biggest zit that any of the girls had ever seen, including Hestia, who had barely survived the Great Boil Battle of Fourth Year.

Lily had to admit that going to classes tomorrow with a giant obstruction on her face would be hard to endure, and it did hurt quite a bit. She raised her wand to her face and gently nudged it while the others looked on in sympathy.

Lily sighed resignedly and turned back towards the others. "Okay," she said firmly. "You can do it."

Lily's dorm-mates nodded, gathered into a huddle, and after a minute of muttering with an anxious Lily looking on, broke apart with a clap.

Emmeline stepped forward. "Okay, Lily," she said briskly. "We have decided that since she has the most experience with this kind of thing, Hestia should be the one who does the actual procedure." Lily gave a jerky nod at this.

At these words, Hestia emerged from the circle of girls, wand at the ready. She slowly advanced towards Lily, as if she moved too fast she would scare her off, like a skittish rabbit.

Lily closed her eyes and said, "Okay, just do it."

"Right," Hestia agreed. "Like a band-aid."

And with an audible swish of her wand and a warm feeling on Lily's forehead, it was over. How anti-climatic.

Lily let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding and spun around to face her reflection in the mirror.

At the sight of her newly smooth and glowing skin, Lily's lips spread into a huge smile. Crisis averted.

The girls all cheered and Hestia boasted, "I told you guys it would work."

As if they all wanted to forget the horrors of puberty, conversation quickly rotated to other things. Soon the pimple was far from their minds as Alice retold everything that had happened on her Hogsmead date with Frank Longbottom the previous weekend, even though every aspect of it had been analyzed countless times before by the girls.

They all went to sleep feeling as if they had solved a world crisis. Lily herself was somehow excited about showing herself off tomorrow, though she wasn't sure why. She still had the same old face, so tomorrow should be nothing new.

She pushed away the feelings as she reached up to touch her smooth skin again, and somehow didn't recognize the raised bumps that her fingers found there.

!!!!!

When Lily woke up in the morning, she bounded into the shower, stripped off her clothes and allowed the water to pour over her, preparing her mind for what she was sure was to be a great day. She had double potions first period, which she was so good at it was hard not to love, then charms, her favorite subject, and last DADA, which wasn't one of her absolute favorites, but she was enjoying the recent topic, which was potronuses.

After the refreshing shower, Lily dried herself and wrapped a new towel around her body and wiped the mirror of its fog. What she saw there made Lily release a blood-curdling scream that echoed through Gryffindor tower, effectively waking everyone who wasn't already awake.

Lily's dorm mates rushed into the bathroom to see what on earth would make their best friend scream like a banshee.

Lily whirled around and presented her face to her friends. Emmeline let out a small shriek.

"What happened?" Lily demanded.

At that moment, there was a loud crash at the door of the sixth year girl's dorm, which made all the girls jump and emit small yelps.

Five boys had burst into the dorm, all brandishing weapons that were surprisingly not wands.

"Alice!" Frank Longbottom yelled while waving around a pillow.

Sirius Black still had his eyes half-shut and was holding his beater's bat above his head threateningly.

Remus Lupin was wielding a closed umbrella, while James Potter had burst through to the front with only his fists as protection.

Peter Pettigrew hovered near the back with a sock hanging limply from his left hand.

"What's happening here?!" James yelled.

Alice turned to the boys with her hands on her hips, which was never a good sign.

"Nothing that concerns you boys," she stated firmly. "Frank, it's sweet that you though to come up here to protect me, but all we have here is a small crisis. You wouldn't understand."

At this, Sirius seemed to have decided that this wasn't worth his staying awake, so he promptly fell onto Marlene's bed and began snoring.

Remus asked, "Whose crisis is it?"

Alice sighed. "Lily's. She is just having a small issue." She put her arms around Lily.

Lily pulled away. "You think this is small?! I look like a total freak!"

Everyone of course turned to Lily to see what she was talking about, but she slammed the bathroom door shut. However not before James could see a glimpse of Lily in a towel that made him feel a little light-headed.

"Oh, dear," Alice said. "I'm going to try to deal with Lily. Can you guys get rid of the idiots over there?"

At this Frank gave an offended huff.

Alice blew him a placating kiss that left Frank staring after her as she disappeared into the bathroom.

The remaining three girls swiveled to face the boys.

Marlene began, "We're not going to tell you anything. It would be an invasion of Lily's privacy."

"But what if we can help?!" James exclaimed.

"I'm sure we can handle it," Hestia said, trying to calm the boys.

Remus added, "It would be wrong for them to tell us something without Lily's permission. She would be furious."

James couldn't argue after that, and the guys trudged out.

!!!!!

Forty-five minutes later found all the girls in the exact same spots they had been in the night before. Lily was once again sitting on the stool in front of the vanity and the others were huddled over a beauty spell book that Hestia had gotten on vacation in France. They were trying to find a way to rid Lily's face of the horrid rash.

Lily herself thought that the rash wasn't that bad after she got over the initial shock of having red, lumpy, disfigured skin. It would probably go away on its own soon enough. But she was also worried what would happen when her classmates saw her. Especially her few enemies who would love to have something to make fun of the perfect Lily Evans.

Lily was one of the prettiest, smartest, and nicest girls in Hogwarts. Almost everyone loved her. But Lily of course didn't know that. She thought she was rather plain, excepting the fire red hair and the bright green eyes.

The slam of a book closing woke Lily out of her thoughts, along with a groan of frustration. "There is absolutely nothing in here that will help that rash!" Hestia exclaimed.

Alice came over and rubbed Lily's shoulder comfortingly. "Guess you'll just have to skip today," she said.

At this Lily jumped up and cried, "What?! Skip classed? No way! This year is our last chance to prep for NEWTS and get the grades for NEWT classes next year! And what about the transfiguration test? I can't miss anything!"

"But Lily," Emmeline said. "Look at your face. It's all red, and shiny, and sweetheart, it's kind of gross."

Lily groaned. "I know I look like a circus freak, but it will go away eventually. Once everyone gets over it, it'll be old news."

Marlene nodded. "Lily's kind of right. She can't miss class because of a blemish."

Hestia threw up her hands. "Well fine! If you want to do this, fine."

"I do," Lily confirmed, and they all hurried to get dressed for the first class, seeing as they had already missed breakfast.

!!!!!

Since hardly anyone was in the hallways as the girls practically ran to class, Lily's rash went unnoticed until she reached her NEWT level potions class. She had that class with all of her dorm-mates and the Marauders because it was required for most jobs out in the real world that they would be facing in two years. She was grateful for the presence of her friends, because though she wouldn't admit it, she was a little afraid of what people would say, especially the Slytherins that she shared the class with, and the Marauders, who despite their show of chivalry that morning had a reputation to ridicule the weak.

They slinked into class about five minutes late, though Professor Slughorn pretended not to notice, most likely because of the red-haired girl that held the title of favorite student.

Lily and Alice went to the desk that they shared and turned their attention to the Professor. He was explaining properties of the Draught of the Living Dead and soon had set them to work on brewing said potion. Lily had kept her head down the whole time, dutifully taking notes, unaware of the boy in the back that had in fact noticed the air of reluctance about her, and perhaps some embarrassment. He wondered if they had indeed "handled the situation" in time for class.

Though she was extremely hesitant to do so, Lily realized that she had to go to the supply cabinet to retrieve the required ingredients for the potion and risk showing her face. She had grown more fearful to do so as the class had gone on and she had inspected the bumps further with her fingers. She waited until there was no one over at the cabinet and then sped towards it, leaving Alice's sympathetic gaze in her wake. Despite them sharing a desk, this potion was to be done individually as per Slughorn's orders.

Lily listed the ingredients in her head as she hurriedly gathered them into her arms. _Tail of newt, marzipan egg, bowtruckle na-_

She was jolted out of her listing as she heard a gasp beside her. She whirled to find James Potter standing beside her and staring at her face with a look she couldn't name.

As far as she could tell, he wasn't at the cabinet for any reason besides to attempt to chat her up, as he usually did. Except this time she felt sure that what would come out of his mouth next would be an insult probably concerning her red face. So she interfered before she could be embarrassed.

"Save it Potter," she hissed. "I know about my face, you don't have to tell me that I look like a badly-painted clown." And with that she grabbed her last two ingredients and strode off, leaving James' protesting face behind.

Lily was tempted to feign sickness just to get out of class, Merlin knows Slughorn would permit it, but she didn't want to be weak just because of a blemish. Appearances don't matter, right? It's the inside that counts, and all that rubbish. So why did Lily feel that as long as her face wasthe way it was then, she was inadequate? As if her marred outward appearance would impair her insides.

But Lily swallowed her worries and began on her potion, and soon she was so immersed in the world of potions that she quite forgot about everything around her. She didn't even hear the two Slytherins approach her desk.

"Something wrong with your face, Evans?" one of them snarled.

She looked up. They weren't prominent troublemakers. Lily didn't even know their names. They were probably hoping to gain status by making fun of easy prey.

"What?" Lily asked, startled out of her focus.

"Looks like the ickle Gryffindor had some problems with her face this morning. What, you couldn't hold your wand steady enough to put on those well needed make-up charms?"

As if Lily wasn't feeling bad enough, this had to happen. She looked around for some help. Alice was at the supply cabinet, and the other girls were at least a row away, not even paying attention. Hestia seemed to have blown something up.

Lily wasn't really up to giving in to her redhead temper just then. She was still tired from her night of gossiping with the girls. And really, a girl can only handle so much.

All of these things seemed to add up to a slight emotional breakdown, something that Lily had not at all been expecting. All of the sudden, tears were pooling in her eyes. The Slytherins looked shocked to have broken through the infallible Lily Evans and couldn't even gather themselves to make fun of her tears.

And then they were gone, blocked by someone who was suddenly in front of her desk with his arms crossed.

"Problem here, guys?" James Potter asked fiercely.

Even Slytherins knew not to mess with a Marauder in fear of the humiliating pranks that were sure to be played on them. They shook their heads and sped back to their desk.

Usually when James Potter shows up, Lily groans and a fight between them is close behind, like over at the storage cabinet. But now Lily could only bring herself to be grateful. She had no idea what was going on with her today. First she starts crying, and now she is grateful for Potter? But Lily didn't really care about the rivalry anymore. It suddenly seemed trivial. And, if she admitted it to herself, James hadn't actually asked her out for months, and really, when was the last time he had done something to earn severe punishment?

Lily kept her head down and gave a shaky, "thanks," to James. But he was gone, up at the teacher's desk.

He spoke to Slughorn for a moment she saw the Professor look over at her. Then James was back, saying, "get your stuff, I've had you excused."

Lily was shocked that he would do such a thing for her, and even more shocked that he had known exactly what she wanted most that day. To get away from everyone.

She obediently packed up her stuff and followed James out the door, ignoring the curious looks of her friends.

They walked a little way away from the potions classroom and then James stopped and turned towards her. He looked at her searchingly, and Lily turned her face towards the floor, something she had been doing a lot that day.

"Are you okay?" he asked her quietly.

"Yes," Lily replied, contrary to how her insides felt.

"Lily, you're crying," James said with a sigh.

Lily's hand flew up to her face to wipe away the traitorous tears that she hadn't realized had been flowing.

"Yeah, well, I've had a bad morning," she replied with a sniffle. "If you haven't noticed, it looks like a tomato exploded on my face." More tears leaked out and then Lily let out a sob. She couldn't believe this was happening. The rash had triggered the cry that Lily had been needing to let out for a while. The tears were for every bad thing that had happened that year. She just hated that she was doing it in front of James Potter.

"I'm sorry," she choked out.

"Oh, Lily," James sighed, and then she was in his arms. They were so warm and strong that suddenly she didn't feel so embarrassed to be crying in them.

Lily rested her hands on his chest and just let the tears flow, soaking his shirt. When her crying had been reduced to sniffles, James let her go. Lily looked up at him.

"I'm sorry," she said again. "I don't really know what that was."

James smiled a little at Lily's nervousness. "It's okay. I'm just glad I was here to make sure you don't go jump off the astronomy tower."

Lily gave a shaky laugh at that, and said quietly, "me too."

They smiled at each other for a minute and then James turned serious again. He grabbed her hands.

"Lily, I hope you know that you look just as beautiful now as you always do. Don't pay attention to anything anyone says."

Lily rolled her eyes at that. "I don't know what planet you're living on," she muttered.

"Any planet you're on is good enough for me," James said earnestly. "To me, you will always be the most beautiful person in my life."

Lily looked into his hazel eyes and saw that he was telling the truth. He really did believe that she was pretty, no matter what. Lily suddenly realized that all those times he had tried to win her affections, maybe he had meant everything he said about his feelings toward her.

"I'm sorry, James. For everything. For me getting mad at you for the _stupidest_ things, and for blaming you for things you didn't do. I'm sorry that we fight all the time."

She took a deep breath and the said in a small voice, "and if you'll forgive me, maybe we can try being friends?"

"Lily," James said. "Of course I forgive you, but I can't just be friends with you. I need more. I have always felt more."

Lily took that in with silence. Then slowly, she nodded. "Okay."

At first, James' expression didn't change. Then, it turned to one of bewilderment. "W-what?!" he cried.

Lily smiled.

"Do you actually mean that? I'm being completely serious here. I mean it when I say you are the only one for me."

"I'm being serious too. I've been stupid. I never realized how much you are capable of. How you can be so caring, and how you make me feel like no one else can. I want that."

James' smile could have cracked his face in half, it was so big. He wrapped her into a hug that she returned just as fiercely. Then her started dragging her down the hall back to the potions room. They burst into the middle of the class and James cried, "She said yes!"

Sirius gave a whoop and started clapping. Soon the whole Gryffindor half of the class had joined in the applause. The Slytherins just looked on sourly.

Lily had stayed behind James, hunched over. James pulled her up to him and wrapped her under one of his arms. She meshed perfectly with his side and she leaned into him. Lily felt a smile grow on her face, and despite her face, she looked up proudly, just because she was under the arm of James Potter. Both felt like they had found someone that they could rely one no matter what. And neither ever wanted to let go of the feeling.

!!!!!

One week later, after Lily's rash had gone, the whole group was lounging outside in the cool spring weather under a huge oak tree near the lake after classes. James had an arm around Lily and both were still in the state of euphoria. The rest of their friends were lying around them.

"Hey, did we have any transfiguration homework this weekend?" Peter asked.

Remus replied, "Uh, yeah, that essay on liquid to solid transfiguration."

Peter groaned while everyone else laughed at his expense. Lily had been thinking and then suddenly voiced her thoughts. "Hey, guys, I just realized that the reason James and I got together was that rash."

The girls chuckled. Alice said, "That rash was horrible. It's hard to believe something good came from it."

Hestia nodded in agreement. "Amazing," she said.

Sirius spoke up, "We never found out exactly how that rash appeared. Can you tell us now?"

Lily groaned and blushed, ducking her head into James' arm. Emmeline giggled at Lily's reaction and nudged Marlene to get her to tell the story, which she did gladly.

At the end of the whole tale, Remus muttered, "Wow."

Sirius nodded. "I didn't know girls went through such bad things."

"Well we do," Emmeline said hotly.

"It's quite exhausting, actually," Alice piped in.

"Well," James said slowly. "I happen to love that rash and all that came with it."

Lily smiled up at her boyfriend, and silently agreed with him. Maybe having that rash wasn't so bad after all.


End file.
